White Lightning 2026

Overview

White Lightning is a feature-length documentary scheduled for release in the United States on October 23, 2026. The film has a runtime of one hour and thirty-six minutes. Described as a gritty, funny, and uniquely American story about second chances, legacy, and what it takes to outrun your past, the documentary focuses on three generations and one dream. The narrative follows eighteen-year-old sprinter King Combest as he attempts to break his father's twenty-five-year-old national high school record. In doing so, he also attempts to break the cycle of drugs, jail, and poverty that has shaped his Kentucky family for generations. King's father, Casey, who is also known as White Lightning, was once an elite sprinter destined for Olympic greatness. His career was derailed by a marijuana arrest, which left him working as a janitor on the margins of society.